Alta Entinas - Getting there at last

Hi All

We signed for an apartment in Block 10 in October 2006 (should have been March 2006) but it was worth the wait.

Now we are able to speak from a little (if limited) experience please feel free to email us and if we can offer advice we will do. A brief note about our experience to date:

The apartment (we are told) was completed in March / April 2006, but there are a couple of licences that need to be granted before you are able to go to Notary. There is firstly the 'Buidings Accomplishment Licence' that the council need to sanction which ensures that your apartment block is built to a 'safe standard' , when that is granted (and only then) can the next stage begin which is the application to the Town Hall in El Ejido for the 'First Occupancy Licence'.

The wait for the Buildings Accomplishment Licence took a couple of months and the First Occupancy Licence took nearly 4 months. We mention this so that if your solicitor tells you about these delays they are most probably genuine.

When we finally were able to go to Notary on FRIDAY 13th OCTOBER 2006 the signing over went without a hitch UNTIL we got to the apartment to find we had no electricity or water, please don't let anyone tell you that it will be ok you will be using the builders electricity and water YOU WON'T. Please allow yourself at least a week before you expect to have water and electricity available. A note about the electricity if you are planning to have air conditioning installed, you should ask for a upgrade from the electricity company. They will install a 20 amp fuse instead of the 15 amp that comes as standard, this will cost a little more but ot beats the frustration of the circuit breaker tripping continuously. There will still be a limit to the amount of electrical implements you can use at one time. If you still have some time before completion it may be worth asking your solicitor to request the upgrade prior to them installing your service.

We bought a one-bedroomed apartment and had part of the terrace blocked off and converted this into another bedroom, I cannot see the point of not doing this as the terrace is 'L shaped' and the part converted would have been in the shade anyway. I know this is not the case for everyone but our terrace has a roof.

We went out mid-May this year and there was not a lot of activity on the building front, I suspect as one of the previous posts says that there is a concerted effort to progress Porto Fino.

We have now got to the stage where we are about to start renting out our apartment and will offer discounts for people who are awaiting the completion of their own apartments in Alta Entinas and want to visit to keep an eye on things. We know from experience how difficult it is to get anywhere to rent close to the apartments.

We hope your wait for your apartment is not too long.

Thanks for the info its good hear of other people's experiences.

We also have an apartment in Block 10 and have stayed there a couple of times and are currently renting it out - please send me a private message if you want to details etc...

Our experience to date has been very positive apart from the usual stuff - snagging list taking time to complete, problems with the electricity which was down to me in the end not the electricity company and the time it takes to get things done - that said we couldn't be happier with the apartment and plan to go out again in September.

I understand Alta Entinas is on schedule to be finished summer 2008 however building work on other developments, the golf course and the infrastructure looks likely to contnue for a few more years. When complete though the consensus of opinion amongst the toursists and locals we met is that it will be 'fantastic' place to be lets hope so.............